Fernando Padmos, former student of ours and winner of the award "Senior Sales Professional of the year" from the Sales Management Association (SMA) in 2017, posted an interesting video about "The future of sales 2020" in the LinkedIn group (Sales) Leadership. A LinkedIn group exclusively for alumni and students of the Sales Leadership Academy and the HAN. A good content video, which perfectly fits with all the tools I have provided sales and account managers in recent years during master classes at the Sales Leadership Academy and the HAN. Think of working out the sales process, the sales plan, the sales funnel, convincing value propositions and sales pitches. All focused on the daily practice of you as a sales professional. Fernando's posting once again emphasizes how valuable master classes are for the commercial part of the organization. The part that really appeals to me in this video by Global Growth Evangelist Tiffany Bova is the part that touches on, what I myself call, "Smart Cutting.
Smart cuts
In times like these, it's no different. The blows a company takes or the uncertainty about the future leaves the CEO in some cases no choice but to cut jobs. Now I personally think that cutting back on commerce is one of the last things you should do. Because "The true business of every company is to get, keep & develop more customers. Go where the money is, so you can keep paying the bills and make a profit." Should you need to cut jobs as an organization, anywhere within the organization. Then do it smartly.
When you eliminate a job within your company, it saves at least €50,000 to as much as over €200,000 over the period of a year, depending on the position. A savings from which many bills can be paid. I understand that.
Incomprehensible
What I don't understand is why, for example, 10% of these savings are not put into further training or sharpening the commercial skills of sales toppers you would like to keep on board. For an amount of € 3,000 to € 6,000 you can easily boost someone's sales productivity and effectiveness by 35%. If handled properly by the training institute, this can be designed so that not only the individual's skills are boosted, but that the skills learned are also transferable to colleagues. Count your winnings.
The indispensable Sales Play Book
The elaboration of the sub-tasks, which are obviously focused on the student's practice, serve as the foundation for the creation of the indispensable Sales Play Book. The creation of a Sales Play Book is something we can help our trainees with before and after the course . The Sales Play Book has a proven effect on the competencies of the rest of the sales department. This effect leaves no doubt about the return on investment.
When an organization can hire people again, the organization's Sales Play Book accelerates the ramp-up time of new sales professionals. As a result, new colleagues quickly contribute to the company's net results. This makes your company stronger and gives you an edge because you can react faster than your competition.
Need to cut back?
Then do it smartly and not "penny wise pound foolish." Always reinvest part of your savings in strengthening the competencies of your top commercial people. That way you will always stay one step ahead of your competition.
Invest in, for example a separate post-graduate master class, see agenda here. Or tackle it right away and give your toppers an internationally accredited course.
